Directions

In a highball glass, stir together the confectioners' sugar and lime juice. Bruise the mint leaves and drop into glass. Fill glass with crushed ice and pour in rum. Pour in carbonated water to fill the glass. Garnish with a sprig of mint.

Most Helpful Critical Review

Jul 29, 2004

This mojito recipe was so-so, but the worst thing you can do is trying to change it to simpilfy it. Basically to make it more like the one at your favorite restaurant is to really muddle (with a back of a spoon, or better a wooden muddler) at least 10 sprigs of mint per drink as well as 3 wedges of lime, 3 tbl. of simple sugar (a 2-1 mixture of sugar and water boiled and cooled-- it's easy and worth it!) Muddle well then add crushed ice to top fill with white rum (about 3 0z) but leave room to add a splash of soda water. Shake or stir and serve! Please do Not use sprite, it will not be the same. But using regular sugar is fine, just cut the amount in half.

I had one of these at a restaurant last summer that is supposed to be famous for their mojitos and LOVED it! They must be famous because they do something completely different, because I followed this recipe exactly and it tasted nothing like the refreshing drink I had experienced. These were very boring. After working a bit on doctoring them up (more sugar, more mint) we gave up and made some margs.

This recipe is good in that it is simple. As a bartender I am hyper-critical and I see lots of people over do it on the ingredients. Personally, I use 6 mint leaves to muddle. I think it's the minty flavor that makes this drink so unique and refreshing. If you're getting a bitter flavor, you're mashing the rind of the lime too much. You want to release the juices, but not the oil from the rind. That's where the bitterness comes from. This recipe has the perfect amount of lime if you're juicing it right:)

Muddling is the key to a good Mojito. You should put about 3 or 4 sprigs of mint and 3 lime wedges. You really have to put some muscle behind it because you're trying to extract as many of the natural oils from the lime as possible. I have never had good luck with sugar in these. A simple syrup (1 part sugar, 2 parts water) is the best way to go. Your final drink should be composed of 1/3 rum, 1/3 simple syrup and 1/3 club soda. Using a smaller glass is the key.

Do not use confectioners' sugar. Didn't dissolve well and left a nasty cornstarch taste in the drink. Will try this one again using simple syrup (and more sugar than the recipe calls for). Will probably also strain most of the mint out - not sure if I liked drinking a salad! but love the fresh mint and lime.